


i'll tell you one thing (we're always better when we're together)

by inkstained_pages



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Online Friendship, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Surprises, Unexpected Visitors, all the angst is lowkey killing me, i am combating all the angst in this fandom, just our boys being fluffy, just take the fluff please, they miss each other what can i say, tubbo is sad so tommy will fix it, with fluff and love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:41:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28092588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkstained_pages/pseuds/inkstained_pages
Summary: Tubbo misses Tommy and Tommy misses Tubbo.And, well, Tommy can't let that stand now can he?Or,In which I am fighting all the depression in this fandom with fluff about Tommy surprising Tubbo by visiting IRL
Relationships: Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Comments: 13
Kudos: 429





	i'll tell you one thing (we're always better when we're together)

**Author's Note:**

> (title taken from Better Together by Jack Johnson)
> 
> This is all platonic, don't ship minors, that is very weirdchamp and I will punt you into the sun. Also if any of the creators want things like these taken down then down they shall go.
> 
> Basically I was depressed by the sadness in this fandom and wanted to rectify that so here you go.
> 
> Also unedited because I'm lazy as shit aha.
> 
> enjoy :)

Tommy stretched and yawned. His stream had just finished, but he decided to stay on the call with Tubbo, who was still streaming.

“How long do you think you’ll be on for man?” Tommy asked, slumping back in his chair. 

“Probably another four hours or so. I promised my chat it would be a long stream today,” Tubbo replied.

Tommy blinked a few times before letting out an exaggerated “what!” that had them both laughing. “That’s a long time to be streaming bro.”

“Yeah, well not everyone’s mother bans them for streaming longer than three hours.”

“Well- I mean, that’s not-” Tommy trailed off into his breathy chuckles before he settled himself. “Fair enough, fair enough,” he conceded.

The two boys sat in silence for a couple of minutes, Tommy scrolling through reddit and Tubbo still streaming. Tubbo occasionally made a comment to his chat, but other than that they were content to sit in the quiet of each other’s company.

And yet there was always a sort of space between them. Maybe it was the fact that they weren’t really together at all, just on a discord call. Maybe it was the fact that they had only ever met in real life once. Maybe it was the hundreds of miles between them.

All Tommy knew was that he really loved Tubbo, he was his best friend after all, and he  _ really  _ didn’t like this feeling of distance between them. He wondered if Tubbo felt it too.

He clicked onto Tubbo’s stream and saw that the brunet wasn’t doing anything of particular interest, just working on some odd build or whatever. Tommy was tired and his eyes were heavy, so he wasn’t paying much attention. 

“You shouldn’t be up all the time man, you’ll get sleep depavation, or whatever it’s called.” Tommy swallowed back a yawn.

Tubbo snorted softly. “ _ Depavation _ ,” he intoned mockingly, fond amusement playing across his face on the stream. 

“Oh be quiet, you know what I meant.” Tommy huffed. “And I’m being serious. You’ll never have enough energy for anything. And then when you’re old and grey like Phil, your mind will be all shitty and stuff.”

Tubbo laughed again, and Tommy felt a warm glow. He liked making his friend smile. “My sleep schedule is already fucked, Tommy. I’m too far gone at this point. I’ve given up, I’ve given in to the sleep deprivation.”

The two shared a soft chuckle at that, Tommy too tired to do much more and Tubbo sensing his friend’s sleepiness.

They once again sank into silence, Tommy watching Tubbo’s stream with half-lidded eyes and Tubbo concentrating on his build. Occasionally the two would bounce around ideas or teases, enough to keep chat entertained.

“Alright chat, I think I’m gonna end the stream here today,” Tubbo announced suddenly about an hour later. It was past midnight and Tommy was scrolling through twitter now to keep himself awake. He knew his friend would be fine if he went to sleep, but he didn’t like the idea of leaving Tubbo alone for the night, even though he knew Tubbo did it extremely often.

“Finally,” Tommy groaned as he stretched. “I’m so fuckin’ tired man.”

“Should’ve gone to bed then,” Tubbo shot back without hesitation, a teasing smile on his face as he organized his raid. “Nothing was stopping you.”

“But I didn’t want to leave you alooooone,” Tommy replied, voice heavy with exhaustion. He always got soft when he was tired. “And besides I like being in a call with you.”

The chat absolutely descended into ‘awwwwww’s, and Tubbo laughed before ending stream with a goodbye and a promise to see them all tomorrow.

Tubbo breathed out a sigh as the stream finally ended, then yawned right after. “Maybe you’re right. I  _ am  _ really tired.”

Tommy hummed in acknowledgement. “I don’t know how you stay up this late every night, I’m so tired. You’re insane.”

“Nah, I just have a really bad sleeping schedule.”

Tommy chuckled quietly. “Yeah, yeah you do.”

The two said their goodnight’s and left the call. Tommy quickly got ready for bed before hopping in and settling down. He was so tired.

Sleep claimed him quickly.

~ ~ ~

The next day Tommy woke with a feeling in his chest. It wasn’t anything terrible, just a dull ache from his heart that Tommy got occasionally. 

Tommy had long ago identified that it was the feeling of loneliness or of missing someone. Sometimes he would get the feeling after leaving a call with someone, or sometimes he would get it randomly, like today.

Tommy sighed and got out of bed and ready for his day. He had only two hours of online college today, which he quietly celebrated. 

The time passed quickly, and soon Tommy was finished with his schoolwork. He hopped onto discord with his lunch and messaged Tubbo, the ache in his chest growing as he thought of his best friend.

So that’s how it was going to be.

Tommy was a sentimental person by nature, and he knew his extrovertedness made him ache for the company of people, especially the ones he called his own. He knew that discord calls and minecraft games were enough for others, and even himself, but he also knew that longed for the realness that came with meetups and days spent together in the real world.

He wondered if anyone felt the same.

Tommy called Tubbo and the brunet picked up almost straight away, his face showing up on the camera, bright and smiling.

“Hi Tommy! How was your day?” Came the familiar words, spoken by Tubbo almost everyday when they first started calling.

“It was good man, how was yours?” Tommy answered predictably, and Tubbo went through a small explanation of how his day went, sticking to their small routine. It was like a little dance they had made, a pattern that held their days together and kept their hearts close. They did it every time they began calls, and neither of them had spoken of it, but there was a silent agreement to use it every day, for reasons unbeknownst to them.

“You gonna start streaming soon?” Tommy asked once the dance had finished and the air was open for anything. 

“Yeah, in about an hour. You?” Tubbo replied.

“Eh, maybe. I’m not really in the mood for it.” The ache had grown a little sharper through the day, and even more so when Tommy started the call with Tubbo. He wanted more than just the calls they had, he wanted to sit beside his friend, wanted to hug him and play in the ocean again.

They bounced back and forth on topics for a while, speaking about everything and nothing at all (“math is so terrible, Tubbo, I swear-” “you’re just mad ‘cause you’re not good at it” “shut up”).

“You ever miss someone even when they’re right there with you?” Tommy spoke into the silence that had permeated the air for a few moments. He felt comfortable and safe in the place he was in, with the person he was with, and he felt no need to take his words back. He knew that Tubbo knew when he was being serious and when he was joking, and he knew that Tubbo would always answer him truthfully when the questions were serious.

“Yeah,” Tubbo replied softly. “Especially since a lot of my friends are online friends and I’ve never even met a lot of them in real life.”

Tommy nodded in agreement.

“It’s weird, since they’re right here and talking with me,” Tubbo continued. “But they’re not actually  _ here  _ here, if you know what I mean. Like, they’re here in their voice and their words, but not physically. Their presence isn’t fully there.”

“I know what you mean,” Tommy said, his voice echoing with a deep sadness. The ache was still there, fiercer than ever.

“I miss you a lot, Tommy,” Tubbo confessed quietly. “Even though we call everyday, it was really awesome when you were here with me in real life. I miss it a lot. It was the best.”

“Yeah, it was. I miss you a lot too, and I wish I was with you right now.” It was an oddly emotional and vulnerable moment for the two boys. They didn’t often get serious or deep, it wasn’t really in either of their natures, but as they had gotten closer the moments had gotten more frequent, until neither of them feared the seriousness at all, just had no need for it.

Tubbo nodded in agreement and his eyes looked a little damp, his brows furrowed and biting his lip. Tommy’s heart broke a little at the look on his friend’s face and immediately regretted bringing up the topic, if only because it made Tubbo sad.

He vowed to make his friend happy again in any way he could.

And as they moved to brighter topics and happier words, an idea came to Tommy, and he grinned.

~ ~ ~

It was a long drive to where Tubbo lived. Tommy didn’t vlog the drive this time, electing to sit quietly and stew in his excitement.

It was a week ago that Tommy and Tubbo had had the conversation about missing each other, and since then Tommy had worked nonstop to make a plan to make his friend happy again.

After convincing his and Tubbo’s parents and working out the finer details (all without Tubbo finding out or even being suspicious), Tommy was heading out to his best friend’s house where he would be staying for a week.

He was so excited. Spending a week with his best friend was a literal dream come true and Tommy couldn’t wait to spend every minute of the time he was with Tubbo with him. He was even more excited to see his friend’s reaction, since Tubbo had no idea this was happening. 

It had been hard to not say anything and act like nothing was happening for the entire week of planning, but now today was the day and Tommy was practically vibrating with nerves.

His dad was driving him and Tommy knew he could sense his jitters, since his mouth quirked up into a small smile every time Tommy fidgeted (which was a lot). 

“Calm down, Tom,” his dad said after Tommy shifted restlessly for the fourth time in one minute. “We’ll be there soon enough.”

“I know, I know, I just can’t wait,” Tommy grumbled.

His father chuckled. “I know you can’t, but I promise we’re almost there. Just another hour or so.”

Tommy just huffed and resigned himself to a longer wait. He put on Wilbur’s newest song (his pseudo older brother’s music always helped calm him down) and tried to settle his nerves.

He wasn’t  _ nervous _ , per say, but he was a little concerned as to how Tubbo would react. Would he be happy Tommy came? Would he be upset that Tommy didn’t tell him? Would he be upset that Tommy was going to be invading his space for a week?

The rational part of Tommy’s brain told him, no of course Tubbo would be absolutely ecstatic that Tommy came. The emotional side, however, was filled with doubts and worries, as teenagers’ minds tend to do. 

Soon enough, however, the car pulled off the highway and into the city that Tommy recognized as the one Tubbo lived in. His nervous excitement kicked up another notch (how was that even  _ possible _ ) and his foot bounced quickly against the floor.

“You’ll be fine,” his dad reassured him as they drove into Tubbo’s neighbourhood a few minutes later.

Tommy only nodded, focusing on pushing aside his nervousness and focusing on the excited part of himself. This was going to be epic, and he was so happy that he could be here and surprise his best friend.

Tommy lived to make the people he loved happy, and doing this for Tubbo, whom he loved as a brother, was Tommy’s favourite thing to do. Anything to wipe away the sadness that had played across Tubbo’s face a week ago.

(And if Tommy was just as clingy as his friend, maybe even more so, no one had to know.)

The car pulled into the driveway of Tubbo’s house and Tommy unbuckled his seatbelt and popped out of his seat in a flurry. He heard his dad laugh at his eagerness before he jumped out of the car and grabbed his suitcase and backpack from the trunk.

With the nerves taking slight control again, he walked with his dad up to the door before knocking. He didn’t know who was going to answer, but he suspected it was going to be one of Tubbo’s parents since it was about an hour into Tubbo’s normal streaming time. 

Oh. 

Tommy had overlooked that little part of the plan. He would be showing up on stream, unless they called Tubbo down, which would be inconvenient at best, and frustrating for Tubbo at worst.

He guessed he would just have to surprise Tubbo on stream. Oh well, at least the fans would get a kick out of it and Tubbo would get lots of clout, though that wasn’t the reason he was doing this. He knew Tubbo would know that.

Tubbo’s dad opened the door a few seconds later and Tommy’s heart jumped as he smiled politely and said hello.

“Ah, Tommy, welcome back. Mr. Simons.” The man ushered them inside. 

Tubbo’s house was nice. It was relatively large and the classic European style. It was filled with little knickknacks and it had a very homey feel to it, exactly how Tommy had always felt Tubbo’s house would be. 

“Toby’s upstairs streaming right now, so you can go up and reveal the big surprise,” Tubbo’s dad said with a knowing smile. “Leave your stuff outside the door, we’ll bring it in after the epic reveal.”

Tommy grinned and thanked the man before taking his stuff upstairs. He said hi to Tubbo’s sister on the way, the younger girl giving him a quick wave and a mischievous smirk.

“Five dollars says he’s gonna cry,” she said, an evil glint in her eye. 

Tommy snorted. “I’m not betting on something that stupid, of course he’s going to cry. Or at least tear up. This is Tubbo we’re talking about here.”

The two shared a small laugh. They meant nothing mean by it, but Tubbo was always the gentler of the two, and a surprise like this would definitely move him to some sort of emotional high.

(If Tommy was being honest, he sort of expected himself to cry as well. The constant ache of wanting his best friend beside him had persisted all week, and Tommy had always cared more than he ever wanted to admit.)

Tommy came to the door to Tubbo’s room and left his stuff outside before giving the wood a sharp rap with his knuckles.

“Oh, sorry stream, one sec. Yeah?” Tubbo called from behind the door, obviously having muted his stream. 

Tommy shifted nervously. His best friend was right behind the door and all Tommy had to do was open it up and he would be right there in front of him. Tangible, real. Not hundreds of miles away and on a discord call. He didn’t remember being this nervous last time, but last time was a bit of a blur and Tommy had planned it  _ with _ Tubbo, not as a surprise.

Would he be wanted? Or would Tubbo turn him away?

He wouldn’t, Tommy knew that. It was the nerves talking, so Tommy pushed them aside bravely and took a deep breath.

“Hello?” Tubbo asked, his tone coloured with confusion at the lack of response. Oops, Tommy had gotten carried away in his worries. “Huh, well, sorry about that chat, wasn’t anything important. We’re back.”

And before Tommy could let the nerves overtake him again, he opened the door.

Tubbo was sitting at his monitors, stream up and running, headphones on his head. Tommy saw minecraft on the computer screen, before turning to face Tubbo, who had spun around at the door opening.

His mouth was wide open in shock, surprise and disbelief flooding his face, eyes wide. “What the- when- what?” Tubbo stuttered. “Tommy?”

“Hey Tubbo.” Tommy grinned at his best friend’s face, it was quite amusing. “Heard you been missin’ me.”

“Tommy!” Tubbo cried out before jumping out of his chair and rushing at his best friend, throwing his arms around him. Tommy laughed and hugged his friend back just as fiercely, burying his head in the shorter’s shoulder. “What are you doing here? I’m so confused,  _ what?”  _

Tommy just laughed again and hugged Tubbo tighter. He could see the chat absolutely  _ freakin  _ out in the corner of his eye, but he ignored them. He was here for Tubbo and Tubbo only. “You said you missed me and wanted to be with me in real life, so I decided to come out and surprise you.”

Tubbo pulled out of the hug, hands still gripping Tommy’s arms like he was afraid the blond would disappear. “Dude, this is insane, I can’t even think straight, this is so crazy! I had no idea at all! How long have you been planning this?”

“Just about a week, since we had that conversation last week. I knew you missed me and I missed you too, so I planned it all out with my parents and yours and now here I am! I’ll be here for about a week, so we have lots of time to chill together and hang out,” Tommy explained, placing his hands on Tubbo’s shoulders. 

Tubbo’s eyes were damp and unshed tears shone in them. He was smiling so wide and he looked so damn happy, Tommy was immediately glad that he had come. It was all worth it to see this look on his friend’s face.

(And if Tommy’s eyes were also wet, no one said anything.)

Tubbo yanked him into another hug and they held each other for a bit, just reveling in the presence of someone that was as dear to them as any member of a family. They had only met in real life once before this, and it had only been for a very brief time, about a few hours. Now, however, they had a whole week together and they sure as hell would be spending as much time as possible with each other.

“Thank you Tommy, thank you so much, this is absolutely amazing man,” Tubbo mumbled into Tommy’s chest and Tommy chuckled.

“You’re my best mate, Tubbo. Anything for you.”

~ ~ ~

“So chat, as you already know because I didn’t have my mic on mute, Tommy’s here!” Tubbo yelled enthusiastically to the stream, who was still losing their ever loving minds, much to the amusement of the duo.

“What’s up chat,” Tommy waved from behind his friend, having pulled up a chair. “Guess who's back.”

“I had no idea he was coming by the way,” Tubbo added. “He just sort of showed up and now he’s here.”

“I’m just too awesome. I come when you least expect it,” Tommy cackled. “I’m like a ghost. Like a freaky ghost who shows up and steals all your shirts.”

Tubbo spluttered for a few seconds, body shaking with laughter, Tommy joining in . “That doesn’t even make sense, man.”

“It totally does! You just don’t get the fine etiquette of true comedy-”

They went on like that for a while, completely abandoning Tubbo’s minecraft stream and reverting to just bouncing off each other on camera.

They ended stream sooner than Tubbo had planned, but he and Tommy were both eager to get off camera and just exist together for a while, just the two of them. 

“Where do you want to sleep?” Tubbo asked while cleaning up his setup. 

“Eh, we can set up a mattress on the floor beside your bed, can’t we?” Tommy said casually from his place on the bed.

“You sure you want to sleep there all week?” Tubbo got up and plopped down beside his friend, sprawling his feet over Tommy’s legs.

“Yeah, it should be fine, I don’t mind,” Tommy replied.

“Alright, let’s get you all set up then.”

They quickly grabbed everything they needed and made Tommy’s bed, bringing his luggage in as well. Soon everything was ready and they both flopped back onto Tubbo’s bed, forsaking space for the need to be close.

They chatted for a while about nothing in particular, going over their streams, school, what was generally going on in their lives. It was peaceful and calm, perfect in Tommy’s opinion.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Tubbo asked.

“Yeah, sure. Which one?” Tommy replied as his friend got up and grabbed his laptop from the desk. 

“Up,” Tommy said immediately, which was no surprise to Tubbo. His friend had always been obsessed with that movie.

“Okay, okay. Haven’t you seen that movie like, a billion times though?” Tubbo climbed back onto the bed and put the laptop on his lap before opening Netflix and finding the movie of Tommy’s choice.

“Yes, but it is still the superior movie, I don’t why you don’t want to watch a billion more times,” Tommy shot back seriously, a smile on his face betraying the amusement he held.

Tubbo chuckled and the two boys settled in as the movie began playing. It was past midnight by now, and both of them were tired from the day. 

Tubbo nodded off first, his head flopping onto Tommy’s shoulder with a snore. Tommy stiffened, before relaxing and chuckling to himself.

“Clingy bitch,” he muttered fondly before shifting around so his friend wouldn’t wake up with a crick in his neck.

Before Tommy realized it, he too had fallen asleep, head propped against Tubbo’s. The two boys leaned on each in their slumber, Tubbo curled into Tommy’s side and Tommy’s arm around his friend, oblivious to the movie finishing.

They were together and that was all that mattered.


End file.
